at night we hold our knees tight chests broken
we wish see light while dark slips by unseen
the road moves fast we bend to it alone
the day its stars do smile at will between
your soul sore hands do beg for any mercy
our arms in flames scream out stop now unspoken
her eyes dull knives blood shot tits dried starving
with you i die in vain no chance running
long gone are the days
my black back pack torn on the left side
my pencils and pens leaking poking into me and each other
between the barely cracked calculus and English literature text books
hid my shame
granules and grams of daze
smoke screen of reality
that monument to beyond desperation
magic and inaudible inside the halls
carpets the only witnesses
to the end of that road
paved with bad intentions all the way
men and women have become a mush
in the gut of torn illusion
bile dripping from its fangs
a smell of the bottom line of nothingness
lingers in my eyes as tears collect like astonished ladies
my right Doc lost somewhere on the 8th floor
my spirit mortgaged to the deceiver
who at the end of the spectacle
is not the one to blame
there are no rhymes roses stars or razor blades
just a fleshbone ghost out of place
im tired of speaking into empty eyes
vacant hearts longing thighs
im exhausted bogged down in wasted time
hoping the music box lies from your crooked mouth would be divine intervention
im sorry for being
absolutely in horror of understood you
for this makes me an accomplice to your betrayal of who i was
not only was the writing on the walls the smoke signals in the sky
but the very Gabriel yelled into my sighs of despair giving me warning
tonight im tired more than i will ever be
the angels are chasing me
something is afoot
they leave me spray painted prophecy
Harry is from Cincinnati a failed Jack of all
Jill grew up in Amarillo
dish water blonde with cheap expensive tastes
Harry’s folks were working class
dad the pool hall alcoholic
mom hid hers in the laundry shed
back then Harry said we lived barely enough
by Sugar Hill between the parks
my paw a union man scraping for our meals
Jill watched his lips as the story wore
she’d look at me and snarl a bit
Harry said it’s a genetic tic
i puffed away on bidis and cloves
Jill kept her pain and her hatred deep in her soul
offering a place to stay to rest her bruised head
Harry spoke up and said ‘we ok’
her eyes caught the rat scampering across
the laundry she washed in the back of the lot
Jill turned away from our talk
Harry said Jill and i we’ll go for a walk
come again tomorrow and i’ll reconsider your deal
but right now she’s got to deliver
i know it’s not right so don’t judge me bad
if she don’t like the life i give her
Jill is free to depart anytime
this is who we are
it’s not very much
Jill looked to the west stretching her arms
reaching out toward the brick wall
pulled out her pipe and started to smoke
Harry looked down with shame in his eyes
my clipboard is packed i’ve nothing to speak
Nile was a girl gaze tragic like a Neil Young song mother as Nile called her had a name like a thunder storm soon the girl went astray in the world sleeping in the woods of the county jail mother didn’t want her little child hurt answering her calls after the pimps tore out her hair and by the morning stars Nile would soon depart to wander through the sidewalks of those evil streets before her momma could feed her breakfast with a broken heart the moon keeps the clock of the hours she’s gone mothers eyes swirl with the pain of knowing her daughter will never return
near the exits she stalls
pondering how to leave
the halls are all she’s known
selling pussy causing brawls
she says in sobbing whispers
before reporting to dad
i’m too old for this journey
legs bruised lips split by the cops
she mouthed off while raising her fists to the sky
then a shooting took over
so they let her off
with a warning that judged her
deep in her soul
later come problems
with bottles of booze
her daddy just told her
go visit Bruce
she stops at the station
to clean up her thighs
i like to watch a woman eat
so much of the female fate
deciphered by her rhythmic jaws
i like to watch her chew her food
she is grateful for the bounty
of the bite she thanks
her Jesus in her thoughts
i like to watch her throat roll down
the morsels of her offerings
sliding down to nourish
the body that will surely
have to fight again
berries placed upon
my achingly thirsty tongue
cooling scorching kiss
streets wet with ocean dew by the train stop
girls with glittering mouths dance in the eyes
men who lost their wages to sinful lust
we smoke with lights out every other block
in the ally they waste covered with flies
bended knees to a system that’s not just
our dreams fast escape through broken windows
on some faces a smile is just a lie
through loss of self remember not to trust
we long for those we love trapped in shadows
filthy shame to cause our blood to rust
the soul cauterized from love so we die
walk the streets with spirits that now are crushed
the warmth of hearts these mean streets have frozen
at night our cries hush
words less spoken 